nswra queens 2018

[budget]

hi guys,
i was going through my diary thinking of attending the 2018 sydney queens and noticed the dates.
3-7 oct,now there is a match ( 1000 -1500 yds programmed for the 7th) in coonabarabran surely this is a misprint?
regards
paul

[Cliff Austen]

Paul, This is correct. The NSW RA have decided to run the Queens at the same time we are running the Ultra Long Range Challenge and the National Long Range Match Rifle and F Class Championships.
As for Match Rifle and F Class, this date/time slot was decided on at the meeting in Stawell November 2016 and reconfirmed at the Stawell meeting in November 2017. Reason being, in 2019 (when our next National Championship was due) we will have a substantial Match Rifle Team competing in Bisley UK.
This time slot is ideal for Match Rifle & F Class as we follow on from the Coonabarabran OPM. It is the first week of daylight savings and the weather is usually mild,
Cheers
Cliff Austen - President NSW Match Rifle and Long Range F Class

[RDavies]

I certainly hope someone changes dates, these are both the shoots I was looking most forward to this year.

[budget]

[quote="Cliff Austen"]Paul, This is correct. The NSW RA have decided to run the Queens at the same time as we are running the Ultra Long Range Challenge and the National Long Range Match Rifle and F Class Championships.

thanks for your reply Cliff,
on face value I think the nswra has always had that date, they wouldn't move nor should they.
In a time when we as a movement are trying desperately to get shooters to participate in our events it is really disappointing that a compromise cant be met.
regards
paul

[johnk]

[Cliff Austen]

The NSW Queens used to be in the first week May. Then, in 2001 / 2002 it was moved to mid September.
Cheers. Cliff

[Matt P]

John
You're correct, we have moved the Queens into school holidays trying to attract some younger shooters, this was done at the Oct Council meeting.
Regards
Matt Paroz

[budget]

apologies Cliff, and you are right John!
extremely disappointing that one does not talk to the other. Anybody would think that we had 50k membership!
We have in Sth Australia the same problem with programming ,we must actively work together to maximise attendances so we can all benefit in this great sport of ours.

interesting side note: national teams matches W.A. 17th-19th September.

[bruce moulds]

not sure how it is in nsw, but here's how it is in s.a.
it has been decided by the powers that be that the sara queens is only for t.r.
fclass is not in the queens.
however there is a side match for fclass which said shooters are expected to get their rocks off about so much that they will attend with their ears back.
in truth, our fclass shooters are staying away in droves.
without interstaters or things like teams trials, there would be very few fclass shooters at our event.
a few fclass shooters have done a lot of work to get prizes and sponsorship for fclass sidematch events, and the response from tr was that it was not fair that they did not have the same prizes.what this has in common with the coona thing is the growing crack forming between the disciplines at higher levels.
fclass shooters have different interests, or different emphases, on what shooting is about.
this includes long range, bisley, and other things.
slowly we are drifting apart due to the still t.r.centric attitudes of our ruling bodies.
generally at club level things are luckily somewhat better.
if the sara queens were on when something like coona was on, the sara event would not find much loyalty from long range shooters.
just because that is how it was does not mean that is how it has to be.
keep safe,
bruce.

[budget]

[Jase PTRC]

Paul i think what Bruce is getting at is only TR can officially win the queens, there is no queens prize for F Class. As you have said we are all a part of the same National Body, so then dont we all deserve to be afforded the opportunity to achieve the same honours?

[johnk]

Jase, I'm surprised. The Queen's prize is an event that has existed from the 1860s for a linear descent of iron sight equipped rifles. The name & the chairing are traditions associated with that discipline. It seems to be grotesque that anybody could perceive the award should automatically apply to other disciplines while the two styles continue to coexist.

Which raises the next point. Once F class shooters arrive at a method of awarding an equivalent level of excellence that they wish to be established as a tradition to winners, how do yo decide who is granted the award, FS, FO or FTR, or one for each? In the case of the latter, surely that would risk diminishing the event's prestige; if one is decided by a notionally qualitative method, I could see that pissing of the other two disciplines.

Of course, you could determine that the oldest and largest discipline, FS, should receive the award, and open another can of worms.

Undoubtedly shooters of goodwill will eventually resolve the issue, but right now it seems to me that there's a certain amount of shooting from the hip going on & not a lot of effort being given to methods of resolution.

As an aside, other countries perceive our tradition of granting state Queen's awards, rather than a single national one as beyond the pale, though it can be argued that some of these awards existed prior to the Australian colonies coalescing into a single Commonwealth.

[Jase PTRC]

John it was meant to be tongue in cheek, as a stir to Paul. I should have attached some of those smiley faces.

[bruce moulds]

budget,
why would i go to the queens when i cannot be in it?
i have won what i thought was the fclass part of the queens three times, and felt part of a fantastic thing, only to find out that all i was was part of rent a crowd for tr.
fcass shooters pay the same.
technically speaking, the queens prize was for muzzle loaders.
tr have been happy enough to change that tradition.
tr will not entertain 1000 yd/900 mt in the sara queens.
perhaps introduce that and get rid of 300.
like i said, fclass is alive and well generally at club level, but at higher levels, the powers that be have failed to capitalize.
keep safe,
bruce.

[bruce moulds]

john,
how long will nra style long range shooting last while that attitude prevails?
keep safe,
bruce.